Method and device for adjusting the deposit position of a semiconductor wafer in an oven

Abstract

A method for loading a semiconductor wafer into a process unit comprises opening the process unit, inserting a wafer into the process unit, adjusting the position of the wafer in the process unit so that it is in a certain position in relation to markers, and inserting a camera into the process unit facing the markers. The camera acquires an image of the markers and of a part of the wafer, and displays on a display screen the image acquired. The position of the wafer is adjusted according to the position of the wafer in relation to the markers on the image displayed.

1 . A method for loading a semiconductor wafer into a process unit, comprising:
 opening the process unit;   inserting the wafer into the process unit near a plurality of markers in the process unit;   acquiring at least one image of at least one marker and of at least a part of the wafer;   displaying the at least one image on a display screen; and   adjusting a position of the wafer relative to the markers according to the at least one image displayed until the wafer is in a desired wafer position relative to the markers.   
   
   
       2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the markers are retractable pins supporting an edge of the wafer when the process unit is in an open configuration. 
   
   
       3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the acquiring includes acquiring a plurality of images of the markers, respectively, using a plurality of cameras, respectively, and the displaying includes simultaneously displaying the plurality of images. 
   
   
       4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the camera is part of an acquisition module installed as a cover part of the process unit. 
   
   
       5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the markers are illuminated during acquisition. 
   
   
       6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the process unit is an oven unit. 
   
   
       7 . The method according to  claim 6 , comprising monitoring a temperature in the oven unit during the acquiring, and generating an alarm signal if the temperature exceeds a threshold value. 
   
   
       8 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the oven unit belongs to a DNS SK2000 machine. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the adjusting includes adjusting the position of the wafer by a robotic arm, the robotic arm being in a desired robotic arm position when the wafer reaches the desired wafer position, the method further comprising:
 recording the desired robotic arm position.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the process unit is one of a plurality of process units, the method comprising recording desired robotic arm positions for each process unit respectively. 
   
   
       11 . A device for helping to position a semiconductor wafer into a process unit, the device comprising:
 a camera configured to acquire an image of a position of a semiconductor wafer in relation to a marker in the semiconductor process unit; and   an image processing circuit coupled to the camera and configured to process the image for display.   
   
   
       12 . The device according to  claim 11 , wherein the camera is one of a plurality of cameras of the device, the cameras being coupled to the image processing unit and configured to generate a plurality of images, respectively, of the position of the semiconductor wafer with a plurality of markers, respectively. 
   
   
       13 . The device according to  claim 12 , wherein the image processing circuit is configured to enable simultaneous display of the images acquired by the cameras. 
   
   
       14 . The device according to  claim 11 , wherein the device is configured to be fixed to a cover part of the process unit. 
   
   
       15 . The device according to  claim 12 , comprising a plurality of lighting elements for illuminating the markers. 
   
   
       16 . The device according to  claim 11 , comprising a temperature monitor circuit for monitoring a temperature in the process unit, the temperature monitor circuit being configured to generate an alarm signal if the temperature measured exceeds a threshold value. 
   
   
       17 . A method comprising:
 inserting a semiconductor wafer into a process unit of a process device, the process unit comprising a plurality of position markers;   acquiring a first image of a position of the semiconductor wafer in relation to a position marker with an image capturing system;   displaying the image on a display; and   adjusting the position of the semiconductor wafer according to the image.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the image capture system is a camera. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the image capture system is a plurality of cameras, each camera acquiring a respective second image of a respective position marker. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein the first image comprises the second images spliced together. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the position of the wafer is adjusted by a robotic arm. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21  comprising:
 adjusting the position of the wafer until the wafer has reached a desired wafer position, a desired robotic arm position being reached when the wafer reaches the desired wafer position; and   recording the desired robotic arm position.   
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the process device comprises a plurality of process units, the method comprising recording a plurality of separate desired robotic arm positions for the process units respectively. 
   
   
       24 . A system comprising:
 a semiconductor processing unit having a plurality of wafer position markers;   an image acquisition module coupled to the semiconductor processing unit and configured to acquire a first image of a position of a semiconductor wafer in relation to at least one of the position markers;   a display screen coupled to the image acquisition module and configured to display the image; and   a robotic arm coupled to the semiconductor processing unit and configured to adjust the position of the wafer according to the image.   
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 24  comprising a computer configured to record a desired robotic arm position, the desired robotic arm position being defined as an orientation of the robotic arm at a time when the wafer reaches a desired wafer position. 
   
   
       26 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the image acquisition module comprises a plurality of cameras configured to take a plurality of respective second images of the wafer. 
   
   
       27 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the first image comprises the second images spliced together. 
   
   
       28 . The system of  claim 24  comprising a light configured to illuminate the markers.